Airline boarding strategies

Any airline traveler knows that the least-favorite part of flying these days is jostling for seats. Even though every one of them is assigned and well-marked, that doesn’t necessarily make it easy to get in, especially if you have a window seat and the adjacent seats are already occupied.

            It’s said that the first dispute over seating on a plane took place on December 17, 1903, when Wilbur and Orville Wright flipped a coin to see who could get on board their rickety one-man biplane for the first-ever powered flight. (Orville won, and he had to lie down on his stomach for the 12-second, 180-foot flight.) Airlines have been searching for the most efficient method to seat their passengers ever since.

            United Airlines might have come up with something that actually works. It’s called WILMA, for “window, middle and aisle.” Last month, United started boarding passengers in economy class with window seats first, designed to reduce the time planes spend sitting on the ground while passengers jostle for their seats. Variations of WILMA have been around for a while, but United thinks it’s come up with one that will do the job. It spreads passengers out along the aisle so that more people can stow their luggage at the same time.

            Customers in first class and business class will see no change in their routine, which is already pretty efficient. There’s also no change for those with priority-boarding privileges, including travelers with disabilities, unaccompanied minors, active-duty military and families with children age 2 and under. United will allow family groups to board together, even though only some of them will have window seats. The new policy will be in effect for all domestic flights and some international routes.

            Average boarding time has increased by two minutes since 2019. That doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but over the course of a day or two it can add up, increasing delays, which in turn lead to all sorts of problems for the airlines and their passengers. Tinkering with the boarding process has been going on since airlines started charging fees for checked bags many years ago. Those fees encouraged passengers to bring bigger carry-on bags, which generally are still free except on low-cost carriers like Spirit and Frontier.

            As well all know, wrestling our luggage into the overhead bins can be time-consuming, not to mention uncomfortable for people sitting nearby. If a few passengers are taking their sweet time while stowing their bag and finding their seat, it can make the difference between a flight departing on time or registering as delayed in the government’s official statistics, and no airline wants to be moving up that particular leaderboard.

            No doubt the other major carriers will be watching United’s plan closely. If it works, rest assured that Delta and others will be copying it, probably applying their own fancy acronyms to the process. As long as it works and makes the boarding process more efficient, we really don’t care what it’s called!

            Ready to get on board? Give us a call! We’ll get you flying, window seat or not.